Casement window limit stop assembly

ABSTRACT

A casement window limit stop assembly in which a spring arm is pivotally connected to the casement frame. The window sash is provided with a track within which a shoe, attached to the spring arm, slides. There is a bore within the track into which the shoe is biased and which stops movement of the window. A push button on the window sash and aligned with the bore permits pushing the shoe out of the bore so that the shoe can slide along the track. The track has a cut-out for removing the shoe from the track thus disconnecting the arm from the window.

[ CASEMENT WINDOW LIMIT STOP ASSEMBLY [75] Inventor: Herbert Lange, San Mateo, Calif.

[73] Assignee: Soule Steel Company, San Francisco, Calif.

22 Filed: Sept. 13,1971

21 Appl. No.: 179,743

[52] US. Cl ..49/346, 292/274 [51] Int. Cl. ..E05f 11/00 [58] Field of Search ..49/250, 251, 252, 49/346, 339, 344, 232; 292/273, 274, 269,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,277,316 3/1942 Garrison ..292/274 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 214,186 4/ 1924 Great Britain ..292/273 241,475 10/1925 Great Britain... ....292/274 31 1,500 5/1929 Great Britain... ....292/273 P9588 4/1953 Germany..... ....292/266 516934 l/l93l Gennany ..292/273 Primary Examiner-Dennis L. Taylor Attorney-Townsend and Townsend [57] ABSTRACT A casement window limit stop assembly in which a spring arm is pivotally connected to the casement frame. The window sash is provided with a track within which a shoe, attached to the spring arm, slides. There is a bore within the track into which the shoe is biased and which stops movement of the window. A push button on the window sash and aligned with the bore permits pushing the shoe out of the bore so that the shoe can slide along the track. The track has a cutout for removing the shoe from the track thus disconnecting the arm from the window.

4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures Patented A ril 24, 1973 3,728,820

FIGJ

INVENTOR. HERBERT LANGE ATTORNEYS CASEMENT WINDOW LIMIT STOP ASSEMBLY This invention relates to a limit stop assembly for casement windows and more particularly to an automatic limit stop fixture for casement windows.

Conventional casement windows generally have concealed friction sliding shoe fixtures or extension friction hinges or other friction devices for holding the window in a partially opened position. The primary drawback of such windows are that strong winds will either blow the windows fully open or cause them to slam shut. In either case the proper ventilation desired within the room will not be obtained and there is a substantial risk of breakage of the glass in the windows.

In order to eliminate the problem of casement windows blowing open or closed the resent invention provides a positive limit stop to hold the casement window open a preselected amount. Tl-Ie invention includes means for easily releasing the stop so that the window can be closed and also includes means for disengaging the stop so that the casement window may be fully opened for window cleaning or other purposes. The release of the stop assembly may be made without any key or tool by one who is familiar with the release arrangement although the release cannot be accomplished easily by the ordinary room occupant. Thus, there is a substantial safety feature built in to the limit stop arrangement to preclude full opening of the casement window.

Other features of the invention will be apparent from the following specification and the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a casement window showing the limit stop arm in place;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical view in partial section showing the interconnection of the stop arm between the window sill frame and the easement frame;

FIG. 3 is an end sectional view corresponding to FIG.

FIG. 4 is a partial detail of the stop mechanism; and

FIG. 5 is a partial detail of the track mechanism for the stop.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing in which the same numerals refer to identical parts in each of the several views, a casement window utilizing the stop assembly of the present invention is shown generally in FIG. 1. The casement window assembly comprises a framed window 11 pivotally mounted at one edge thereof within a frame 12 installed in the building wall 14. The stop assembly of the present invention comprises a spring steel arm 16 interconnected between the window sill bar 18 and the bottom casement bar 20. It should be noted here that the present design is shown in connection with an extruded aluminum frame of bar members although the invention is not to be considered as limited to any particular type of construction.

The construction of the stop assembly is more clearly seen in FIGS. 2 and 3. The spring steel arm 16 is interconnected between the lower sill bar 18 and the bottom casement bar 20. At the sill bar 18 the spring steel arm 16 which is drilled at both ends for pivotal connection to the respective parts, is fastened by means of a truss head machine screw 22 to the upper platform 24 of a Z- shaped bracket 26. A washer 23 is placed between the am and the platform to eliminate binding and reduce friction. The elongate lower leg 28 of the bracket has a pair of elongate fastening holes 30 to permit the bracket to be shifted longitudinally for adjustment of the pivot location. The bracket is bolted in place to the casement sill bar 18 by means of a pair of machine screws which pass through the elongate holes 30.

The window end of the spring arm 16, which is connected to the movable casement window, has a hole therein to which a nylon sliding shoe 36 fastened in place by means of a flat head rivet 38, the end 39 of which is peened over. The nylon shoe 36 has a large diameter head 37 which is captured within and which moves longitudinally along a channel shaped track 40 fastened to the underside of the upper horizontal web 42 of the bottom casement sill bar. The track 40 is inserted into a slot 44 milled or otherwise cut into the lower horizontal web 46 of the sill bar and fastened by means of machine screws 48 to the upper web 42. An alternate design would eliminate the channel shaped track 41) as an independent piece by forming the track as an integral portion of the aluminum extrusion making up the casement sill bar or, as still another alternative, by punching or milling the track shape into the casement bar material.

As may be seen more clearly in FIGS. 2 and 5, the channel shaped track 40 has a circular cut-out 50 milled through he turned-in lips 52 for permitting the head 37 of the sliding shoe to be disengaged from the track as will be described herein. A large diameter hole 54 to accommodate the head 37 of the nylon sliding shoe 36 is milled into the web 56 of the track to act as the limit stop, in conjunction with a bore 70, of the same diameter, milled into the upper web 42 of the casement window bar 20.

Disengagement of the sliding shoe 36 from the recess 54 is accomplished by means of a captive push button 53. The push button comprises an elongate shank 60 vertically disposed within a drilled hole in the glazing bead 62 of the bottom casement window bar 20, and extending vertically through a drilled hole 67 in the bead bracket retained inside the glazing bead. A groove is turned into the shank part way down from the head 64 and a small retaining ring 656 snapped into he groove captures the push button and prevents its removal from the glazing bead. The end of the push button extends into the bore '70 drilled through the upper horizontal web 42 of the bottom casement bar. Thus, the end of the push button shank bears directly against the upper face 72 of the nylon sliding shoe when the shoe is in place within milled recess 54 of the track and bore in the web.

The general operation of the window limit stop as sembly of the present invention is as follows. To function as a control device for casement windows to limit the amount the window may be opened, all that is required is to release the conventional locking handle on the casement window and pivot the window until the limit stop spring arm 16 snaps into place at the predetermined position. This occurs when the nylon shoe 36 slides along within the channel shaped track 40 until the shoe drops into the milled recess 54 and its corresponding bore '70 through upward urging by the spring arm 16.

,In order to release the limit stop fixture and close the window, the head 64 of the push button is pressed downward thus pushing against the face 72 of the nylon sliding shoe and disengaging the shoe from within the milled recess 54 in the track. The window may then be pulled shut as the nylon shoe slides within the track.

In order to disengage the limit stop assembly so that the window may be fully opened for cleaning, the window is opened in the normal manner until the limit stop is reached as described above. The nylon sliding shoe is disengaged from the milled recess in the same manner as when fully closing the window but n this case the window is only slightly closed. Then, pressure is exerted downward on the spring arm 16, as the window is slowly closed, until the nylon shoe reaches the cut out 50 in the track. At this point the shoe will be disengaged from the rack as the head 37 drops through the I cut out thus disengaging the arm with the shoe attached from the track. The window may then be fully opened for cleaning or other purposes.

Reconnecting the arm to the window frame is also a simple operation. The window is moved until it is in position adjacent the spring arm. The arm is then depressed so that the bottom casement bar is over the sliding shoe. Slight movement back and forth with permit the shoe to find the cut out 50 on the track and snap into place in the track.

Unless one known the exact method for disengaging the limit stop, disengagement of the stop is difficult if not impossible. Thus, the safety of people in the rooms is not impared even though no special tools are required by those servicing the windows for cleaning or other purposes in order to fully open the windows as necessary.

While one embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, it will be obvious that other adaptations and modifications can be made without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention.

1 claim:

1. In a casement window, a limit stop assembly comprising: a resilient stop arm one end of which is pivotally connected to a horizontal bar portion of a window frame, a slidable connector shoe mounted at the other end of the stop arm, a casement window sash pivotally mounted in the frame, said window sash having an elongate track within which the slidable connector shoe may ride for controlling pivotal movement of the window sash, said track having a bore along the longitudinal axis thereof for capturing the connector shoe and limiting movement of the window sash by permitting the connector shoe to be pushed thereinto by action of the resilient stop arm, stop disengaging means on the window sash adjacent the track for pushing the connector shoe out of the track bore so that the she may move along the track as the window sash is pivoted to close it, said track having an opening therein along the longitudinal axis through which the shoe may pass out of the track when pressure is applied against the resilient force of the arm.

2. In a casement window, the combination of: a window sash consisting of horizontal top and bottom sash bars and vertical sash bars fastened to the opposite extremities of the top and bottom sash bars, one of said horizontal bars incorporating an elongate track along the longitudinal axis thereof, said sash mounted for pivotal movement in a window frame consisting of horizontal top and bottom sill bars and vertical frame bars, a resilient stop arm pivotally connected at one end to a sill bar, a slide member mounted on the other end of the stop arm and resiliently engaged within the track by spring action of the arm, said track having a socket therein for accepting the slide member therein by resilient action of the stop arm when the slide is juxtaposed with the socket as the window sash is pivoted, and a disengagement actuator mounted on the horizontal bar which incorporates the track, said actuator aligned with the socket for disengaging the slide from the socket, said track having an opening therein through which the slide member may pass out of the track upon alignment of said slide member with said opening while pressure is applied against the resilient force of the arm.

3. The combination of claim 2 and wherein the track has a generally channel shape with parallel flanges overlying the channel recess so that the track has an elongate opening narrower than the channel recess, and wherein the connector shoe has an approximately T-shaped cross-section, the head of the T adapted for slidable movement within the recess as the leg moves between the flanges so that the head is captured within the track, and wherein the parallel flanges have opposed openings therein to provide the opening for disengagement of the connector shoe from the rack. v

4. The combination of claim 2 and wherein the pivotal connection of the stop arm to the ill bar includes a pivot support bracket adjustably mounted for longitudinal movement along the sill bar. 

1. In a casement window, a limit stop assembly comprising: a resilient stop arm one end of which is pivotally connected to a horizontal bar portion of a window frame, a slidable connector shoe mounted at the other end of the stop arm, a casement window sash pivotally mounted in the frame, said window sash having an elongate track within which the slidable connector shoe may ride for controlling pivotal movement of the window sash, said track having a bore along the longitudinal axis thereof for capturing the connector shoe and limiting movement of the window sash by permitting the connector shoe to be pushed thereinto by action of the resilient stop arm, stop disengaging means on the window sash adjacent the track for pushing the connector shoe out of the track bore so that the shoe may move along the track as the window sash is pivoted to close it, said track having an opening therein along the longitudinal axis through which the shoe may pass out of the track when pressure is applied against the resilient force of the arm.
 2. In a casement window, the combination of: a window sash consisting of horizontal top and bottom sash bars and vertical sash bars fastened to the opposite extremities of the top and bottom sash bars, one of said horizontal bars incorporating an elongate track along the longitudinal axis thereof, said sash mounted for pivotal movement in a window frame consisting of horizontal top and bottom sill bars and vertical frame bars, a resilient stop arm pivotally connected at one end to a sill bar, a slide member mounted on the other end of the stop arm and resiliently engaged within the track by spring action of the arm, said track having a socket therein for accepting the slide member therein by resilient action of the stop arm when the slide is juxtaposed with the socket as the window sash is pivoted, and a disengagement actuator mounted on the horizontal bar which incorporates the track, said actuator aligned with the socket for disengaging the slide from the socket, said track having an opening therein through which the slide member may pass out of the track upon alignment of said slide member with said opening while pressure is applied against the resilient force of the arm.
 3. The combination of claim 2 and wherein the traCk has a generally channel shape with parallel flanges overlying the channel recess so that the track has an elongate opening narrower than the channel recess, and wherein the connector shoe has an approximately T-shaped cross-section, the head of the T adapted for slidable movement within the recess as the leg moves between the flanges so that the head is captured within the track, and wherein the parallel flanges have opposed openings therein to provide the opening for disengagement of the connector shoe from the track.
 4. The combination of claim 2 and wherein the pivotal connection of the stop arm to the sill bar includes a pivot support bracket adjustably mounted for longitudinal movement along the sill bar. 